By Nick Cafferky, news editor
In the world of sports, you have two types of fans: those who prefer college sports, and those who prefer professional sports.
I couldn’t even throw out a guess as to which is more popular throughout the country, but for me, it isn’t even close; pro ball reigns supreme and there is no substitute.
I don’t care about “atmosphere,” and I don’t buy the idea that college players try harder than their counterparts at the next level.
To me, that argument is on par with the idea that David Eckstein is “scrappy.” He isn’t — you just think that because he’s not very good and he somehow convinced everyone that his work ethic makes up for his lack of talent.
Now, I am willing to make two exceptions: college football and March Madness.
Gameday on a college campus is pretty epic and there is nothing like the Cinderella Story in the NCAA Tournament.
But that’s it.
For every game like this season’s Virginia Tech and Miami football game, there’s one like the Appalachian State blowout where fans leave at halftime.
SEC football is honestly the only thing that can approach its professional version, and it’s because pretty much every player in the conference will one day be playing on Sundays.
And don’t even dare suggest regular season college basketball comes close to the NBA. There’s a reason I paid $169 for NBA League Pass, and it’s because I’d rather empty my wallet to watch Kevin Durant than watch college kids miss open shots and butcher the fundamentals of my favorite game.
My argument is simple: if you want to see sports played the right way, you watch the pros.
If a player is really as good as people say he is, I’ll see it when he goes ham on the best players in the world.
The fact that he averaged 20 points per game in college means absolutely nothing to me, as he scored the majority of those points on a guy that went on to be an accountant upon graduation.
I will never understand how someone loves watching a player dominate over those athletically inferior to himself in college, but then forgets he exists a year later when he has turned pro and is being challenged by people just as gifted.
Take Harrison Barnes as an example.
Watching him take over in games for North Carolina is truly amazing, but that drama wouldn’t compare with watching him try and do the same thing against the Durantula or Andre Iguodala.
It’s like saying you’d rather see Floyd Mayweather Jr. beat up on “Sugar” Shane Mosely than see an epic battle between him and Manny Pacquiao.
Also, it is worth mentioning that while you can watch enough NBA basketball to know just about everything that is going on in the league, you can’t come close in college ball; there are just too many teams.
Think back to everything you “know” about college basketball. How much of that is from what you have seen with your own two eyes and how much is based off of one clip Doug Gottlieb showed you.
That’s what I thought
So don’t come up to me and ask me what I think about Connecticut’s starting five this year or if Jared Sullinger is the real deal. I don’t know and I don’t really care.
I do know Tech basketball inside and out, but that’s only because I cover it and it is my job. I’d honestly rather cover the mess of a team that is the Washington Wizards.
After all, even the worst player on the Wizards was once one of the best in college basketball.
Follow Nick on Twitter at @NickCaffCT
3 Comments until now
“I don’t care about atmosphere…” and then three sentences later “Gameday on campus is pretty epic”. So you don’t care about atmosphere but the campus atmosphere on gameday is what makes college football cool. Nice.
Aside from the excessive use of hyperbole, the argument is an interesting one. Two points…
1) I stopped reading after you excluded College Football and March Madness. That’s like excluding the NFL and NBA playoffs, and most would agree the NBA isn’t much without its playoffs. It’s weird/unfair to exclude the opposing argument’s two most popular examples.
2) I’d argue the level of competition at the pro level makes it less interesting. Parity, in any sport, makes for a lack of drama. When the Michigan Wolverines are upset by Appalachian State, it makes nationwide headlines because it was SO unlikely. On any given Sunday, any team can beat any team and that takes the fun out of it. Save for the Pats, dynasties are all but extinct in the NFL. The NBA is slowly consolidating its talent amongst a few teams, but free agency and greed will prevent it from ever reaching the consistent, domination that teams like UNC and Duke have maintained over the years. In other words, David vs. Goliath makes for great drama, and pro sports can’t compare to college sports in that regard.
I respect your opinion, but to say collegiate sports are overrated is simply that, an opinion. There is a better product with professional sports, but I don’t buy “your” reasons for collegiate sports being overrated. Also, did you really use “HAM” in a sentence.